US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called her Chinese and South Korean counterparts on Monday and reaffirmed the stance of the United States on resuming the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a briefing.

"The general idea of resuming talks and our desire to see talks resume, I think, were part of the discussion," Boucher said when talking about Rice's phone calls to Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon.

Boucher said Rice emphasized the importance of the six-party talks during the phone calls. However, he added, there was no new information on the willingness of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to show up in the talks.

The United States has repeatedly said it wants to resume the six-party talks aimed at solving the nuclear confrontation between the United States and the DPRK.

China has hosted three rounds of the talks which involved Japan, Russia and South Korea in addition to the DPRK and the United States. The talks have been stalled since the third round held in Beijing in June last year.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2005)